An Improve North (Outline)
by dreamer1293
Summary: There is more info in my author's note but- I've been working on this outline for three AU stories I would like to write about The North. In it The North is a lot better off than in canon and it is not because of one simple solution/decision but a lot of little ones building up for a long time. I've put a lot of time, research, and detail into the reasons. Please review.
1. Outline

A/N Sooooo... I was thinking of doing my own spin on an improved North fanfiction. The kind that commonly gets called a stark wank and I won't deny that there will be quite a bit of that, especially in the beginning. But not all of it will be. This is just a taste of what I have planned, obviously it's an unfinished outline, but I thought there is enough here to get some feedback before continuing to revise the story I'm planning in my head and improve this outline before writing more. I'm envisioning a trilogy. The first story will focus on the changes to our canon North and the fallout through the encyclopedias of the North, as outlined below. The second will be the stark family prelude which will basically be stark family moments in this improved North I've mapped out (though it's not a perfect North, I do have flaws and defects in mind). That outline is more incomplete but I have more details in my head. The last one is the entirety of the Song of Ice and fire series (combined book and tv show) with all these changes in place. I did not include that outline to keep the mystery alive but, rest assured, I have it. You might notice I borrowed some ideas and outright names/identities from other stories of this type that I admire. I think I've noted the authors name for each in order to remind myself to ask their permission before writing. Sorry for the long note, just thought it was needed information for this incredibly random thing I'm doing. Now read, and tell me what you think :)

Northern Histories (Each number is a separate "encyclopaedia")

" **A general History on the founding of house Stark and Winter's Exodus"- 8000 years ago after the long night. (Initial Change)**

When the Long night was over and the first King of winter Bran the builder was building the wall he met with his friend (king-beyond-the-wall Joramun) he told his friend that building this wall would cut off the land of always winter so that the Others could not destroy the land of westeros but if the wildings stayed they would be cut off too and over time they might even be regarded as enemies instead of allies- **Convincing the wildings to come south** before the wall was finished was difficult. Many wanted to stay in their homeland for they felt the presence of the gods and the magic of the land more strongly there. But King Stark was very convincing, especially as the wall he planned grew to great heights very quickly due to the magical assistance of the children of the Forest. In the end most of the people living in the lands of always winter came south to live in the mostly untouched land of the North.

I will… **describe the great exodus of Wildings and giants**

As the wall was built thousands of clans and tribes left the land of always winter and settled where they pleased with almost no supervision or restriction. This included four Giant clans and one large tribe of _Children_ numbering 200. Many clans settled in the mountains while a few moved around the north in a nomadic way.

Along with the people many herds of animals settled below the wall. Most resigned themselves to the wolfswood. These animals greatly bolstered the numbers of some that had been dying out below the wall. While others had never before been seen below the wall. All the animals that came include:

Direwolves

Mammoths (they stayed with the giants and didn't explore the north like the other animals)

Reindeer

Elk

Highland Cattle

Various normal animals

Gryphons

Shadowcats

Unicorns (though no one realises they came except the people of skagos who kept quiet about it)

After the wall was built Bran the builder immediately began work on Winterfell located in the center of the North. His good friend Joramun had decided to settle his clan of people, numbering around 500, on Stark's land and they assisted Stark with building Winterfell as well as bringing all his lands into order as one kingdom under Stark's rule.

I will… **show the effect these changes caused in this time period.**

As wildings and northmen became one they noticed few differences in culture as the religions and values were generally the same if a bit harsher with the wildings. There were many spats at first over trespassing on land in a kingdom and the concept of kneeling to kings so that tribes could live and flourish on the land they wanted. But for the most part the northern kingdoms either won the respect (and so the loyalty) of the tribes that were then made into houses… or wildling tribes were killed.

It took four decades after the wall and winterfell was built for the cultures and people to completely merge and this was helped in no small part by the Starks.

After their defeat of the Others Bran and Joramun were highly respected and Stark's word in particular was taken throughout the northern kingdoms as truth. Joramun was more skilled with words as proven by his work with uniting the stark lands into a peaceful kingdom. So while Brandon Stark spent most of his days at home in Winterfell governing his lands and continuing his line. His faithful friend spent his days traveling the North and spreading the word and glories of House Stark. He would eventually settle in a small harbor town that would come to be known as white harbor. He had won the heart of a wife in one of bran's sisters and with King Bran's blessing they formed their own cadet branch in White Harbor. House Greystark.

While peace reigned House stark came to the decision that a united North was the best defence against another long night. This message was spread with the help of Joramun and over the next four decades as the north became one with the wildlings House stark led a campaign to Unite the north. He made many allies and defeated minor kings bringing more land under House Stark's rule. By the end of his life Brandon Stark and Joramun Greystark had managed to win several small and a couple large wars (Including the war against the Night's King) and to unite all the lands above the neck and below the wolfswood under the kingdom of house stark. Their work would be continued by their sons until the north was one kingdom, from the wall to the neck, ruled by the King of Winter.

 _ **Long may they reign**_

 **The Age of Heroes: A time of Northern Expansion- 8000 to 5000 years before Aegon's conquest**

I will... **Describe the settlement of the children, giants, and druids**

Upon coming to the southern north the Children of the forest gravitated towards the largest forest in the north. The wolfswood. In the center of the wolfswood they planted a weirwood and around it they built a stone spiral to commemorate the gods. Above the growing weirwood they built their home in the trees high above the ground. In a large circle around the spiral they hollowed out several dozens of trees and, using magic, manipulated the limbs and leaves of the tree to create bridges between them all. Here the children of the forest would dwell for many years undisturbed. Away from the eyes and ears of men and peacefully worshiping the gods. At the time of the exodus there were a few small clans of _children_ scattered throughout the north but upon hearing that so many of their kin came to live in a great tree village in the wolfswood, eventually over many years, all the _children_ of the north would migrate to this village until they were all concentrated there. This village would come to be known as Foresthome in the common tongue or foraoise baile in the old tongue.

The long night had been hard on the giant race. It was so hard on the giants that all that were left of their kind lived in the lands of always winter. When the remaining giant clans heard of the wall being built and the exodus to the lands below four clans (almost half of what was left) decided to journey to the "softer lands". With them they took their mammoths and journeyed to the southern north. There they settled in different parts and discovered that life in the north was very similar to life in the lands of always winter. The four clans that settled in the north were the Wun clan, the Weg clan, Ryk clan, and Del clan.

The Weg clan was a small clan of twenty with only three mammoths. They settled on the northern part of the stony shore. It is said they were inspired by the castles they saw on the way to their final home that upon arrival they built a large castle out of the sharp glass like rocks they found on the shore. A castle big enough for all their people and so beautiful it would blind you. These rumors were partly fueled by the fact that no one could find the weg clan after they moved there. For over a hundred years people would spot members of the weg clan but no one who tried could find their home on the stony shore or their people for their dwelling was so well hidden.

The leader of the Del clan had always wanted to be near the ocean when they lived above the wall but they lived very far inland. He used this opportunity the exodus brought and relocated his clan on the ocean. He built his at the mouth of where a river known as the broken branch connected to the ocean. His keep would later be known as Ramsgate.

The Wun clan settled in a series of caves in the mountains near the bay of ice. Not much is known of them except that they kept to their roots as giants the most throughout the years.

The Ryk clan's leader had always been good friends with Joramun. Their clan had been on the front lines in the battle for the dawn. When Joramun went south so did the Ryk clan of over fifty giants. Stark allowed them to settle on his lands, in the hill just to the north of where he would be building Winterfell. As Stark was sleeping beneath the weirwood and planning how he would build his castle around it the Ryk clan built their home in such a way that it almost blended into the hill it was built on. As if it had sprung up from the ground this behemoth of a holdfast. After stark had finished drawing up his plans and consulting with his allies and people to bring together the best builders and magic users, many of whom were the same people he conscripted to build the wall; he then rode to the giant's holdfast to speak personally with Ryk, the leader of the clan. He did this because he knew that they, like all the giants and free folk were still getting used to living in a monarchy and he didn't want to push them to help him as a king just yet. When he saw their craftsmanship he knew he had to get their help above all in his quest to build the grandest and most stable castle in the north. He spent three days with the leader and in that time a deep bond of friendship formed. They spoke of many things, the political climate of the north, what it meant to be a magnar which is what he was now, what to name his keep and and have for words, the long night, family, architecture. King Bran went over his plans for winterfell with the magnar and re-did some parts to include the new ideas he received from the giant. In the end they agreed to help build it and from then on the Ryks and their giant clan would always be one of house stark's most supportive bannermen.

The people who would later come to be known as druids started out as small tribe of free folk that came to the southern north, like so many others, for more opportunities. Little did anyone know the huge impact they would have on the north. In the early years they were very nomadic. They would move to a new place every two or three weeks. Their tribe was barely surviving in the lands of always winter because of their small numbers and because most of them were built very slight so there were not many strong fighters to protect the tribe. This is one of the reasons they were always moving to prevent attack and ultimately to find a place where they could survive and thrive as a people. After many years of slow travel across upper part of the north they eventually found themselves in the wolfswood. After first they thought they had found the answer to their prayers. So many wild beasts roamed free in the countryside that they thought surely they could only be as many in the woods not more. If so then surely they could live well in the woods. Upon roaming the woods for several weeks they reassessed the situation and decided they were wrong. The woods were definitely more dangerous than the countryside. The woods were also larger than they had thought originally. The could not find a way out and many of their numbers were picked off. They were at the end of their rope, hopeless. That is when they found it. A large weirwood with a face carved into it, surrounded by stones larger than the tallest man, larger than the average giant. The stones fanned out around it in a pleasing way and the tribe, now numbering barely more than a dozen, were so relieved after their journey to see the face of their gods that every last one of them ran to the tree and collapsed onto its roots crying, praying, calling out for the gods to save them, guide them. The children heard the commotion coming from below their village and went to the bridges to see what was going on. What they saw moved them. They called for their leader, the high greenseer Ka. Ka saw promise in these faithful, desolate people. More than that he _saw_... and _felt_. He went down and invited them up into the tree village to rest and heal after their hard journey. At first the people were scared and wary but _the children_ were true to their word and only gave them shelter and food. Soon, a deep bond of trust and gratitude settled into the hearts of the tribe they did whatever they could to contribute to the foraoisebaile. The leader named their people Druid and they would later find out it meant "Finding (or Knowing) the tree". The Druids ended up staying with the children for 65 years. Their tribe had grown to number around seventy people so they decided they were taking too much room away from their good friends, the children. They left Foresthome and settled in a southern portion of the wolfswood directly north of what would one day be torrhen's square. They considered leaving the woods and settling elsewhere in the north but they ultimately decided that it was better for them to remain close to their friends and allies. Although they didn't live with them anymore their time with the children had given them a gift that would keep giving to others for millennia to come. While they lived among the children they learned much of their ancient ways. The children taught them how to read and write the runic language of the old tongue, a skill only royalty and magnars truly knew; they taught them about the history of this land and the practices of faith to the gods of the forest that have long been performed on it. They taught the druids about the magic that flows through these lands, of wargs and greenseers and magical beasts. They taught them how to perform magic and they taught them how to utilize the land for anything they might need, how to heal using either magic or science. Above all they taught the people to have a deep respect and understanding for all life and the land on which it grows. All of these experiences fostered a strong belief which became a core value that would define this group of people for the rest of their time on earth: Knowledge is power, knowledge is life, and above all knowledge is for everyone. To have the knowledge of many things is important. But to share that knowledge so that everyone, highborn or low born, may benefit from a deeper understanding of the world they live in is vital. This was the gift the children had given them and they would return that favor by doing the same for everyone they could across the north. Almost as soon as the majority of their people were settled and thriving in their new home small envoys of three or four, sometimes five, men and women took to traveling the north in every direction. They would travel, help, come back to share what they learned with the rest of their tribe, and then others would head out to do the same. When they traveled every village, town, or city they came across they stopped to speak to people. The sang songs and told stories in order to spread knowledge of history and philosophy and faith to the small folk. If they saw someone in need of help they helped and then taught those people how to do what they did for future reference. They helped wherever they could and sometimes it was hard. Sometimes they would be killed or hunted by bandits or thieves. Sometimes minor lords were scared of the influence they had over the lowborn but these people never fought back no matter if they wanted to do so. All they did was pray, talk, and teach even to their dying breath. It wasn't long before they were known across the north and respected by most of them. They started getting noticed by high nobility for their brave and selfless actions across the north and were often invited to several keeps and castles to advise or give some other kind of service to the acting lord or lady. They never accepted gold for these services all they asked in return was the chance to roam their libraries and learn more. They were always allowed to do so and even copy down the scrolls they wanted and bring them home with them. These scrolls, and eventually books, would then be stored at their home; soon creating a library of their own to rival any king. Their tireless efforts to collect and protect knowledge from destruction as well as their belief in sharing and spreading that knowledge for the common good earned them the respect and admiration of everyone in the north. Over the course of several hundred years they would come to be a staple of life in the north. If you had a question or needed to know how to help yourself or your family you consulted the druids. They answered all calls as they came in no matter who they were. If a prince came to them while they were busy with a farmer they stayed with the farmer until they were done then helped the prince. They never forgot the children whom none of this could have been possible without. Over the many years until the andal invasions the druids would come to be a huge influence on the culture of the north. They placed an importance on learning and open mindedness as well as influencing the ways people practiced their faith in the old gods. Creating specific ceremonies and tales and songs to describe what the gods are and their influence. Their wrath and their gifts. And so the small nomadic tribe of wildlings became the druids and they remained this way for at least 5000 more years.

I will… **describe the expansion of the winter throne's governing and building**

After the war Brandon Stark Magnar Joramun went back to the lands of Bran's youth to begin work on the castle that would become the seat of House Stark. Bran chose this area for many reasons:

He was the only child of the leading family of a village east of the wolfswood. He grew up roaming these lands and knew them better than anyone.

There were multiple rivers nearby that could be useful.

It was in the very center of the North and, should he succeed in his goal, would be geographically poised to become the capital of the North.

Most importantly, the godswood. An ancient and beautiful heart tree lies in the middle of the north. Bran encountered it many times in his youth and felt something special emanating from it. As if it possessed some special magic that other weirwoods did not. The fact that there were hot pools of water beneath the tree only increased his belief that this heart tree had a special connection to the gods that others did not.

Stark and Joramun leading their people number 700 or so (500 were free folk following joramun and 200 were stark men), they rode for the godswood Stark had told them about. They said their prayers and set up camp as Stark started his plans for his castle that he would build around this godswood.

The large group were in encamped for a month as House stark settled quickly on the name, words and colors for House stark and not so quickly on the designs for the castle. It is said that Bran hardly left his tent but spent every day at his table drawing and redrawing the castle. The only time it is noted in the oral histories that bran left his tent was when he went to the heart tree, as much for inspiration as to pray. Eventually he finished. He designed it to be a massive fortress, bigger than any other Northern castle at the time. Sturdily built with two curtain walls that had several square bastions and battlements. The inner keep would be a large building near the guard's hall and the guests the left of these buildings would be the main entrance and the yard. To the right of the keep would be the grainery for storing food for winter and right across from these buildings would be the godswood. On the other side of the godswood would be the place for the kennels, stables, well, kitchens, blacksmith, armory, and a small library. They didn't know it but the library would not be filled until the time of his grandson's rule.

When Stark was finished Joramun took one look and called him "an ambitious little fucker". Bran just laughed and went to work procuring the materials and money from the people who had incurred debts from him while saving his own money. As bran traveled for these things. Joramun oversaw the planning of the land and the laying of markers to aid the building.

As Stark traveled for his materials he confirmed two major things about the north that he had suspected for a long time.

The North's many kings divided this great land despite there being virtually no difference between one kingdom and the next. This, he concluded, was why it was so hard to fight against the others and why it took so long to mobilize enough people.

Many people in the lands surrounding his soon to be castle had little to no idea of who their lords were and they didn't seem to have any loyalties to any of the other kings.

Upon gathering everything he needed and returning to the site of what he thought would be his second greatest achievement he set out again to find builders to help him build it. A couple of _children_ offered their services when he asked but the majority wanted to be left alone. He gathered several dozen men from the villages and towns but he struck gold when he traveled to the home of a giant clan that had recently settled in the hills directly above where he planned to build his home. Upon seeing the magnificent structure of these giants he realized something. If he was going to be king of these lands, as he planned with Joramun after meeting him again to drop off the supplies, then the giants would be his bannermen. He had designed the castle doorways and guest houses too small. He spent three days with the giants not only getting them to help but also learning about their ways of building and adjusting his own designs to match their needs. They were so grateful and honored by his care and consideration that nearly half the clan went with him to help him build it.

It took two years of hard work and redesigns but finally the castle was finished and named winterfell for his achievements during the long night. As Bran and his people worked Joramun had made a name for himself by riding to the surrounding lands and submitting the people Bran had noticed being leaderless years before. Thanks to Joramun's silver tongue as well as his skills in battle, by the time Winterfell was done Brandon Stark had a nice sized chunk of the North under his command. To celebrate these accomplishments he named the nearby town of his childhood wintertown and spent the next three years keeping the peace in his lands and resting on his laurels. He married and started a family while Joramun kept travelling across the north into other northern kingdoms and spreading dissent into their current kings as well as praises and propaganda geared toward house stark. He warned of another winter or worse another long night and how ill-equipped a divided north was to deal with another problem like that. All of this worked and after nearly ten years Brandon stark started his campaign to unite the northern kingdoms. Over the next twenty years he defeated the barrow king and the marsh king bringing the southern north completely under his control. Unfortunately he was getting on in years and decided to leave the rest for his sons to complete after he was gone. Bran spent the rest of his days designing new buildings and contraptions, teaching his sons about duty, and most importantly keeping peace in his newly expanded lands and ruling them with both care and strength. Joramun, his best friend and, for the last many years, his good brother was tired of fighting as well. He was all set to live out the rest of his life at winterfell but Bran said it would be a dishonor to allow such a faithful man go unrewarded for everything he had done for house stark. He granted Jormun the ability to become a cadet branch of house stark and granted him ownership of a coastal town which he named White Harbor. So Joramun Greystark spent the rest of his days building a great port city and teaching his sons about their duties to the starks as well as the need for a united north.

After Bran and Jormun passed on their sons did indeed take up their mantel. They warred and made agreements and marriage pacts until eventually only the red kings were left. The Boltons hated the Starks but they couldn't win against the combined might of the rest of the north. They gave in too. Eighty years after the ending of the long night the North was united under the rule of House Stark. While some, like the Boltons, were hesitant and angry about this change the Starks had come to be regarded high and low born alike as a legendary and mystical family who were blessed by the gods with the right to rule. The people, for the most part were happy to now be one people ruled by the Starks. So in awe of this family the people took to calling the throne in the great hall of winterfell the Winter throne in honor of Bran's defeat of the others, and in so doing, defeating winter itself.

I will… **King Donnis (Warg King) establishes protection and for the beasts of winter and lays out food protection plan**.

Donella Stark, twin sister to the heir of the throne, accompanied her brother Donnis on a visit to the mountain clans. While there she found a very small heard of no more than 4 gryphons. She fell in love with these strange and powerful beasts and decided to stay in the mountains to care for them since it was obvious they were dying out. Her brother left a contingent of guards for his sister so he could continue his duties. When he was done and she refused to leave he rode back to Winterfell to inform their Father, the King, of her strong will to care for these creatures so he allowed her to stay there for a year (I should mention at some point where they are in the mountains, a cave or outpost?). After a year of caring for the creatures and breeding them to the point that she had a strong and healthy heard of a dozen, she drew up an official proposal and rode for Winterfell. There she requested her father charter a town in the mountains whose sole purpose was to breed and care for the gryphons so that they may be used in times of war as flying weapons and in times of peace as messengers. At first the king was skeptical and asked who would be the lord of this town. She said she would, she asked for permission to form a cadet branch. This enraged her father but after two weeks of negotiating and with the help of her brother, who was inspired by her passion for these animals, she was allowed to form house Froststark. Her father was equal parts annoyed, frustrated, and proud of his daughter for her determination and defiance so after she won he challenged her to find the people for this town and build it herself from scratch. She took this challenge. She went to Long Lake where a tribe of spearwives lived and made allies of the leader convincing them to set out on this adventure with her and become the very first Gryphon Riders. Across the lake she used a large portion of her inheritance she left winterfell with to commission the giants of house Croom, bannermen of house Ryk, at their keep to help build the town. Once they all returned to the mountains the giants started building the town around the gryphons while the spear wives started hunter for food and bonding with the beasts, Donella went to find the clan her brother once spoke of. A struggling clan whose leader was unwed and just trying to keep his people alive. They wed soon after and his clan populated her town. She ran the gryphon business and he cared for the people of this land and the rest of the story of house Froststark is history.

A few years after King Donnis ascended to the winter throne he went to visit his sister and see the product of her love and labour. He was as inspired by the fruits of her labour as he was by the passion with which she spoke of the animals. Donnis had always shared a love of animals with his sister but lately he had been having dreams that went beyond this. He was a warg, though he didn't know it. On his way back to Winterfell he passed through the wolfswood thinking on possibilities for gryphons as well as all the dreams and what they could mean, were they visions from the gods? He ran into a group of druids with two sacks filled with scrolls. Donnis knew of druids, had even entertained a few and allowed them to browse winterfell's library, but bumping into them now when he had so many questions felt like a sign he couldn't ignore. He escorted the druids back to their home and asked to speak to their leader. They consulted for many hours on his dreams and the possibility he was a warg. Donnis decided to extended his impromptu trip a few days to learn and explore his ability. A few days turned into to two weeks and then he requested the leader come with him to winterfell to discuss a plan and Donnis had been thinking of as the druid taught him about the different animals of the north.

When he learned of all the different animals the north held and a possibility of bonding with any of them as well as the other wargs numbering 1 out of every 1000 people in the north he had an idea. Actually he had a few ideas. Some were doable, some were far-fetched, but to see any of them through he would need the help of some very smart people. Once he and several druids had reached Winterfell with scrolls depicting the grazing grounds and migration patterns of every animal in the north. For several months he was engaged in meetings with various druids and lords as well as his sister to draw up a plan for controlling all the wildlife in the north. The plan would segregate all the animals into three categories: animals for breeding, animals for food, animals for warging. Every major house was required to build three large farms somewhere on their lands each with the sole purpose of those three categories. He called his Giant bannermen to help herd a great many animals out of their habitats and towards specific farms where each animal herd would be split into three smaller herds and each of the three small herd were sent to each of the farms. At one farm the animals would be fed and raised just to be killed and butchered for their meat, at the second farm the same animal would raised and taken care of for the sole purpose of breeding so that the animal in question could never die out, at the third farm the animal would be cared for and used to test warging abilities on and failing that they would be trained as war animals. This plan would drastically lower the amount of wild animals roaming the lands and attacking his people as well as protect the animals from dying out due to hunting as food, sport, or vengeance. This doesn't mean there were no more animals outside of farms there were plenty left running loose in the wolfswood but it meant that the wolfswood was where most of the animals of the north usually stayed. This plan was very popular and all of his major bannermen pitched in to pay for the effort as this would mean less wild animals roaming their lands, another source of income for the lords whose lands would house this particular animal, as well as a constant source of meat for their people. King Donnis, known as the beast king for all these accomplishments, would go on to build the wolf pen at winterfell and come to be known as an eccentric for his taming of dozens of direwolves and keeping them in his home.

The king separated the animals like so:

The mammoths and shadowcats would be given to his most loyal Giant bannermen. All the giants were allowed to keep some mammoths but The Ryks were to raise shadowcats.

Gryphons would stay with the Froststarks

The highland cattle went to the Boltons

Elk went to Karstarks

Reindeer went to the Umbers

The Reeds held all dominion over the many creatures of the neck.

Direwolves, of course went to the Starks. Only unlike with the other animals direwolves were not to be sent to any meat farm. Under the law of the protection plan there was a strict ban on any hunting or killing of a direwolf in any way other than self defense. Direwolves were not food but the sacred symbol of the Kings of Winter. From then on they were to be respected and raised as the constant companion of every Stark family member.

King Donnis waited fifteen years for his protection plan to pay off and start bringing in money and resources before he commenced with the final piece to cement his legacy as the Beast King. With his faithful companion of ten years, his direwolf Steelheart, on his mind he called forth for all his bannermen to scour their lands for wargs and then send them to Winterfell. He told his lords and ladies of his plan to form a battalion of wargs who would use their gifts for the protection and betterment of the kingdom. Lords responded to this with curiosity and intrigue but thought little more of it, writing it off as another eccentric plan of their lovable, animal obsessed, king. Every warg that could be found was escorted to Winterfell to begin a new life in service to the king and kingdom as a member of the honorable warg battalion.

I will… **King Jon Stark sends out a land survey and lays out a new agricultural and economic plan with all his lords** **.**

King Jon Stark had a lot to live up to when he inherited the winter throne. His great grandfather had been bran the builder who defeated the others, his grandfather had been King Raymun who united the north under one king, and his father had been known as the Beast king for his accomplishments including the reduction of wild animals roaming the north as well as creating a better and more stable system of meat production across the North. Perhaps his father's accomplishments are what inspired him the most when he came to the throne.

The biggest problem in the North at the time of Jon's ascension was the lack of food. This had always been a problem in the North, whose cold and unforgiving climate made growing any kind of food extremely hard, but ever since the Great Winter Exodus the problem had been even worse. With the addition of hundreds of thousands of new people in the north right at the end of winter had made food became even scarcer. And in the last hundred years since the exodus the problem had only gotten worse. His father's laws to protect animals and increase animal husbandry had helped stop starvation in the north and the population growth had evened out instead of declining as it had been. But Jon believed there was more that could be done.

A year into his reign, just three years after the end of the last winter, he called together the best farmers of his land as well as a dozens druids. Together, like his father before him, they came up with a farming improvement plan that would utilize different techniques being used in essos as well as hardier but still nutritious plants that some of the druids been studying. The plan was as followed:

All farms in the north would be required to switch to a four-field crop rotation system.

Included more kinds of food. (B/C at the time they were only using wheat for their grains as that was the most common for planting in westeros..). But the druids suggested some other plants they had been studying such as: Barley, oats, Rye, potato, clover, cabbage, and turnips. All of which were hardier foods more suited to the soil yield of the North. The potato especially had a huge effect when introduced to the northmen's diet. (Over the years after the plan was utilized new foods, like more fruits and vegetables, would be added now and then on the recommendation of the druids so to prevent diseases)

Introducing fertilizer. The druids hadn't just been studying plants they could grow better in the north some of them had been experimenting with them in other ways. They wanted to see if they could improve on the North's poor soil yield in order increase the chances of crops surviving and, ultimately, increase the amount of crops produced. They came up with fertilizer. Crushed up food and meats and various other elements creating a more potent soil which would be used on the farms to bolster the soil there. The effects were tremendous. So much so that, a few years after it was introduced in the north, the southrons took notice and began to develop and use fertilizer as well.

One of the most important parts of the plan was how to preserve all the food so that it could be used all winter. After several letters with the various kings of the Reach they decided to make use of the Stark's renowned building expertise and create a sub-treasury of preserved food. Large storehouses were built in every part of the North and an underground network connecting them to all the major houses of the North so that the lords of those lands could safely get food in times of winter and ration it out to their people when food grows short. The farmers especially approved of this part of the plan, they pointed out that most peasants bought more cured meats before winter than any other food and this would help the smallfolk stay healthier during winter.

The plan was finally crafted and perfected after months of planning and researching, as well as several years of field testing. But 7 years into his reign he had it all put together just how he wanted it and gathered all his lords together to talk to them of this plan. He signed it into law and ordered it to be done but still spent a few weeks convincing his lords and reassuring them this would make things far better for the north and… it did. After a few years the results of this new plan really began to kick in and the North had a population boom on their hands.

Because of the spectacular results due to the care and consideration King Jon put into his plan; it was generally decided throughout the north that from this point on one of the sacred duties of the King in the North (i.e. the starks) to have complete control over the harvest and food distribution. And so it became tradition. Jon Stark accepted and reveled in this accomplishment and he had a few more before the end of his reign such as **creating the Harvest feast**. A festival held for two weeks just before winter. When all the farms of the north had completed their last harvest before winter and before the lords began the process of shutting down areas of production and relocating the people to hunker down for the winter; all the major and minor noble families (and many smallfolk too) were to gather at Winterfell to honor the passing of the seasons and pay the last of their taxes before winter would prevent them. The festival always started off boisterous with feasts and dances and performances by druid performers, as well as meetings between the lords and the kings. Then it would slowly wind down until the last few days of the festival were solemn days of reflection and prayer with many hours spent in the godswood of Winterfell. This Harvest feast quickly became another tradition in the North. It was seen as a very fun way of getting business done and a cathartic way of helping the people ease out of the relative comfort and safety of summer and ready themselves for the harshness of winter. **Jon would also invent** the Glass Gardens, a magnificent structure in winterfell built with strong myrish glass that would not break for anything less than a castle falling on it, though it would also be weakened or fractured by a tree falling on it. The glass let heat into the structure and trapped it so that fresh fruits and vegetables could be sowed and reaped all through winter. He designed an underground aqueduct, similar to the one used by his ancestor to bring water from the hot springs into the walls of winterfell, in order to bring water from the hot pools into the soil of the glass gardens. It was a brilliant piece of craftsmenship that was much envied throughout the north, though the starks were the only ones rich enough to buy the materials for it.

 **Queen Lyra the Scholar expands and funds the druids to protect knowledge of northern traditions and magic.**

Lyra Glover was born at the beginning of a harsh winter. The first nine years of her life was spent in total seclusion at Deepwood Motte dreaming of sunshine and warmth. She had a rough childhood, she had seen many siblings born and most of them die due to either cold or hunger, she herself had come close to death once when she was seven. They had barely been able to save her only being able to because of some scrolls on healing left behind in their library by a passing druid on his way home years before during autumn. When she recovered she was told about the druids and how they indirectly saved her life. Her family only knew the basics and nothing about their history. She became fascinated by these mysterious knowledge seekers who traveled the world in search of new experiences and knowledge the way she wished she could. For the next two years of winter she would spend every waking moment in the small library of her home, reading and re-reading every book and scroll they possessed. It wasn't much but it was all she had, that and her own imagination. She spent a great deal of her time imagining the distant lands she read about and even writing her own version of her favorite stories. After mastering her own studies she demanded to be taught the same things as her younger brother even if she would never use it. Her parents, never quite getting over almost losing her, conceded to her demands. Her studies continued past winter's end and though she had dreamed of summer so many times; she dreamed of traveling to all the lands she read of and even meeting and becoming one of the druids she admired, she found herself so busy with her studies she was only slightly saddened by not being able to fulfill her childhood dreams. This was to be expected, for though she was only nine when winter ended she was no longer considered a child by herself or her family. Decades later, she would remark, "No matter your age, experience, or sex; winter makes men of us all."

When Lyra was five and ten she begged her father for permission to accompany him and her brother to Winterfell for their business meeting with the King. She had never left her home and she wanted to see more of the land she had read about. Her parents gave in after after little prompting for they knew that the king's son and heir was of an age with their daughter and the possibility for betrothal was too good to pass up. They did not mention this to Lyra because while she was very mature for her age she still had shyness about boys and marriage, though they discussed it with her brother in hopes he would be able to facilitate a meeting between her and prince Ashter.

Just a few days after their arrival Donnis was practicing the sword with the prince when he saw his older sister sneaking into Winterfell's library. _Typical_ , he thought with great amusement. That was when he felt the prince's wooden sword strike him down. He apologized to the prince after he helped him up and explained that he had noticed his sister and she distracted him. They joked about that and Asher told the prince about his sister's passion for knowledge. He was intrigued and Asher introduced them to each other. Lyra liked the prince well enough but she did not want to give up her freedom to marriage just yet when she had finally gained it from the winter.

The prince courted her the whole two weeks of their stay at winterfell. Before they left a betrothal was drawn up but not signed. Her father was trying to convince her before sentencing her to a betrothal. In order to sway her, or maybe just let her live one of her dreams so she'd be more opening to letting go of the other dreams and marrying, on the way back to deepwood motte the Glover party stopped at the Foraise to visit with the druids.

 **King Gawen's economic trading plan**

3000 years after the Winter's exodus(so 1000 years before the andal invasions) and the North was a thriving kingdom. Gawen Stark came to power in the middle of a long summer. He had been a foolhardy boy in his youth whom everyone had said possessed more wolfsblood than any Stark that came before him. So much so that his father considered renaming his wolfsblood as simply fool's blood. While this came across as endearing to most people including his family it made some of his lords nervous. At some point in the last 3000 years of Stark rule it had become tradition in house stark for both the heir and spare of the winter throne, on their separate 14th birthdays, to undergo a quest to visit all the northern bannermen. They would meet with them and get to know the lords or ladies they would one day rule as well as their families and heirs. When Gawen toured the land he would inherit he was determined to earn his future bannermen's respect. Unfortunately his wolfsblood led him to more trouble rather than any political respect nor a warrior's respect. He was smart enough when he paid attention to his studies and a fair warrior but he was not spectacular. That fact combined with his hot blooded temper and impulsiveness made most of his visits end in laughter and embarrassment. After a year of travel he returned home feeling like a complete failure. Sure that all of the lords would rather have his younger brother as heir, he was despondent. He shut himself up in his room and wondered about his place at Winterfell, he even considered joining the Night's Watch at one point. After a while he went to the library and browsed the books in boredom. The stark's were most famous for their skill as builders, all the great Kings built something of import during their reigns. Starks were architects one and all. He thought maybe he could prove his worth to everyone including himself if he could build something too. He studied architecture and the History of his people (as written by the druids) for years, devoting a great deal of time to it but by the time he came to the throne at 23 he was no more spectacular at that than he was at the sword. He was still loud and boisterous, still well loved by all for his good humor and heart, still impulsive, but still average in all the things that made a king. Sword skills, diplomacy, battle strategy, magic (he wasn't born a warg and had no skill in normal magic), paperwork! He worked hard but in fact the only thing he could boast that he was honestly remarkable at was math and economics. Not the sort of things the Seffids sang songs of or made grand tales about.

When he came to the throne he still hadn't proven himself and he worked hard everyday to prove himself and leave his mark on the throne but for years he was unsuccessful. Everyday he faced the general responsibilities of a King but they were in a time of peace with no huge wars or great problems that needed fixing so how could he come up with anything great enough to immortalize his name. He considered utilizing the druids for ideas like many of his ancestors did but his stubborn pride kept him from it. A few years later, while looking for inspiration in his library, he read about the surveys conducted by his ancestor King Jon when he was coming up with his agriculture plan and the animal survey done by King Donnis for his Beast Protection plan. They sent out those surveys to gather the necessary information in order to fill in or modify a plan they already had thought of and put together but, Gawen wondered, could he gain an idea **for** a plan **from** a general survey.

The purpose of the survey was very general since King Gawen didn't know what he was looking for. In the end he told the people to check everything and see if there was anything in the North that was new or that just wasn't being done properly. Since the survey was so general the king didn't think anything would really become of it. Nothing big. When the results came in five years later he was shocked. He had always known that the North was the largest kingdom in Westeros with a great deal of land still unoccupied as well as many resources but he had not known just how many resources they had. His surveyors were all bright men some of them coming from druid families and they were very thorough, checking with the druids for more info and the results of their work was staggering. There were so many potential sources of income for his kingdom that were untapped.

To start with there were jewels as commons as stones in skagos as well as a very small herd of unicorns (previously thought to be mythical) that the skagosi revered and protected.

There were large deposits of silver that could be mined in the mountains above long lake.

The amount of possible timber and wool we could be selling in a column next to the amount we actually exported that was far smaller. There was also a note about the potential for deforestation.

There were a lot more rivers than he thought there were so he immediately sent for his map of the north to be updated. They had noted in the margins of the part about the rivers of an invention from the riverlands that utilizes the power of a rushing river to create something called a sawmill.

Large caves off the shore of a river, south of barrowtown, that was filled with a mineral called salt.

There was a large abundance of herbs and plants native only to the neck that the druids used for medicinal concoctions.

There weren't any sea dragons out on seadragon point but there was a lot of strange fish native to the area that wasn't seen anywhere else. Some of them were even edible.

Lastly, located in the hills east of the Stony Shore in the middle of the Rills was something new. They had discovered a new jewel not seen anywhere in westeros. When polished it shone white as a field of snow and glinted like the sun reflecting off the snow.

King Gawen was beyond excited for this opportunity to make a name for himself. Finally he found something that could put his only talent, as unheroic as it was, to good use for his kingdom. He worked out a plan, with the occasional consultation from the druids, to start utilizing some of these resources.

He talked to the people of skagos personally and negotiated a change in taxation, from then on they would only have to pay with the jewels of their land(they were thrilled with this because they saw them as nothing more than shiny rocks) but once every ten years they needed to pay winterfell a unicorn horn.

He created some minor provisions for the harvesting and sale of medicinal plants in the neck as well as the salt from the new town he created called Saltspear. Though he did send his youngest brother to the newly formed city to create a cadet branch in charge of mining and selling salt; they were appropriately named Saltstark.

He created a larger plan for increasing trade in timber and wool with the south. Utilizing saw mills on rivers they increased wool production in the north by 40% and after working with the druids they came up with a plan to increase timber production with minimal risk of deforestation. This increased lumber production by only 15% but they were still going to make a lot more money from selling it with his new provisions for trading and selling the lumber that would decrease expenses and make it more profitable.

While these were all well and good King Gawen was most excited for was diamond and silver mining. The diamond mining plan was straightforward and the North would make a great deal of money from it but the silver was where his true heart was set. The Lannisters were the richest people in the 7 kingdoms due to their gold mines. The gold lion was at the top of the currency of the 7 kingdoms below that were silver moons created in the Reach. They weren't very pure because the Reach focused their energy elsewhere but it was the best in the kingdom so most kingdoms used it, lower forms of currency than that was different for each kingdom. Now here's the thing, one golden lion was equal to 250 Silver moons due to the impurities of the silver. King Gawen knew the silver in his lands were far purer and he had an idea. He poured most of the money he was using for his economic plan into the mines and the houses that would control them. When the mines started working and good silver was pumped out by the cartload he asked his kin in White Harbor to start up a mint in his name. King Gawen invented a new silver currency he named airgead mac tire (pronounced "ah-dee-get mock-cheer-a), or silver wolf in the common tongue. After a few years word got out about this new currency and it began being used in the south as well. Northern silver, as it was known in the south, was appraised by all the kingdoms and it was concluded that it was far superior to the silver moon. One lion was equal to 30 silver wolves as opposed to 250 silver moons. So from then on one of the North's main exports was silver. King Gawen's economic plan would expand the wealth of the North ten-fold. Many years later, he would die never accomplishing what he had fantasized doing in his youthful arrogance. Instead he died a much richer man, a beloved father and husband, a respected and loved king, a man whose name would be immortalized in history. Not bad for a fool.

 **Andal Invasions- 4000 years before Aegon's conquest.**

I will... **describe Queen Lyanna's ascension to the winter throne and her son's change of inheritance laws. (ask shadowwolf1997 for permission)**

Queen Lyanna was the eldest of four girls but there were no male heirs so when her father died Lyanna ascended to the throne. There was some controversy at first but after so many generations of spearwives and warrior women being common in the North all opposition was meager and petered out soon after she took power. She was a very good queen by all accounts. She took care of her people and even funded two orphanages in Wintercity, ruling that the orphanages were to be the property and the responsibility of house stark for as long as house stark was in power. She was also very smart. As a young woman she spent several months with the druids learning many skills. When she became queen she asked one of the druids, a friend she had made in her youth, to assist her in seeking knowledge of potential threats to her kingdom. This druid had heard from another druid who had recently returned from a mission trip near Andolos of potential invasion to westeros starting in the south. Nothing was definite and information was sketchy but these whisper of statue gods and maesters who hated magic and a potential war to destroy her people's culture, the culture of the first men which had shown signs of starting to decline, all of it frightened her. She didn't know if anything would ever come of it but being the smart lady she was she decided to start her defense of the north in a most unexpected way. First men culture had been growing stagnant, the youth was ignorant of their rich and amazing history, certain parts of their culture had been dying out. With a whisper of war on the horizon this wasn't a good sign for her people So she decided this was the perfect time for a cultural revival. She sold personal jewels and used House stark's personal funds to commision seffids of the north as well as bards of the south to create and sing songs glorifying the history of the north, praising the starks, and celebrating first men culture. She donated a lot of gold to the druids with only one request; send more envoys than usual for the next decade at least to every part of the north to tell true stories of our people to the nobles and the smallfolk. "Tell them of the gods of the forest and the magic that they gifted our lands with, tell them to take pride in our northern hardiness and the values we have held since the dawn age. Tell them of the north and our virtues, sing our praises until they can recite our noble history in their sleep. Then let's see those petty andals try to take us." This revival was a big hit in the north, spawning renewed interests in magical study and the ancient battles from the age of heroes. The runic protections laid in stone castles and keeps throughout the lands were renewed and not forgotten, statues were built across the north, including in Wintercity, celebrating their heroic ancestors, and opinion of the Starks as rulers were at an all time high. Druids in later years would debate on if all this had any true impact on wars with Andals when they invaded during Queen Lyanna's son's reign or if the North's tremendous outright victory should be entirely to the credit of Theon Stark. It's anyone's guess. But I tell you what, it sure didn't hurt their chances.

Theon Stark would be so proud of his mother's tireless work to not only keep the north running and protect it from outsiders but to also keep the people of the north in line and protect them from their own apathy; that when he came to the throne one of his first proclamations was to change the inheritance laws for the entire kingdom. The line of succession in the North would no longer have anything to do with gender but instead be based on birth order alone much like the Rhoynar. This was very controversial and hard to do but, as with his mother's ascension, everyone got used to the idea in a short time. Any and all opposition was gone by the end of the andal's invasion; after the northmen fought alongside many strong and talented women who helped the north to win the war as much as the men did.

I will... **describe the founding of house Avalon and their eagle messengers (ask weareallnowheremen)**

I will… **show King Theon Stark and his message to the Children below the neck that they can seek sanctuary in the north as well as the exodus of the Children of the Forest. Founding of house Wolfsight (ask shadowwolf1997)**

I will… **describe that there were several attempts that were stopped and then the sacking of Andolos by Theon stark.**

I will… **describe the attempted Maester Invasion 50 years after the last of the andals attempts on the north (a plot designed by the faith and the citadel to destroy northern magic and culture) and King Byrron stopped it and created the order of the Druids based on Lyra's original proposal.**

I will… **show the founding of Bravos with the help of a northern member of house seastark and his ship as well as the help provided by Queen Arrana, Queen in the North.**

Aegon's Conquest

 **Torrhen is upset about losing his kingdom and his brother, Brandon Snow, tries to lift his spirits.**

Brandon, with the permission of his brother and the aid of the druids performs a full survey of the north. They find out the exact population of the north as well as updating all their maps to account for the growth they experienced since the last survey.

While on this trip he realizes they should be making more money on trade than they have been. He comes back to winterfell with the perfect way to lift Torrhens spirits

 **They and the druids come up with a plan to improve trade in the North involving:**

A system of roads (with bronze signs) spanning the entirety of the north and all of them lead back to winterfell

Build two canals; one that goes across the neck and one that comes off the broken branch river and leads directly to wintercity. They impose a toll system for the canals and roads.

Torrhen Invested his own money to have more ships made in all four of the northern ports (Darkstarks, Mormonts, Seastarks, and Manderlys) and placed better regulations to increase trade profit.

Dfd

Targaryen rule

Issue with succession of Nymeria

Cregan not receiving the Targaryen bride he was promised

Goes home upset and asks for a large amount of gold in recompense

Uses that gold to fortify the North.

Pours gold into repairing/ adding more fortifications into every major castle.

Rebuilt moat cailin which had lost many of its original 20 towers

Restructured wintercity(over the years with the population growth wintertown grew so big they had to recharter it as wintercity and by cregan's time it had started pressing up against the walls of winterfell)

Wintercity is now structured to be comprised of four quadrants of houses and businesses. The Quadrants are separated by four large roads that run perpendicular from the three directions to wintercity in the north, south, and west and the fourth entrance coming from winterfell in the east. These four roads meet in a circular plaza in the middle of the city where resides a thirty foot tall statue of Bran the builder, founder of House stark. It is in this plaza where the market meets everyday. Every Quadrant has an orphange, the northwestern quadrant has the city's godswood, the south western quadrant has the port connected to the canal which runs under a bridge on the kingsroad (which is the name of the road that bisects wintercity from the south). The city is as large and populous as highgarden.

fkfkf

Robert's Rebellion

I will… **describe the major events of Harrenhall**

Stark siblings meet and bond with Howland Reed

Eddard starts getting close to Ashara Dayne

Lyanna becomes the knight of the laughing tree and defeats the three bullies.

Rhaegar talks to the starks to find out the name of the mystery knight (he and Lyanna seem to like each other)

Soon after lyanna disposes of the evidence to her fights but Raeghar sees(?) or just finds out it's her.

Eddard and Ashara have sex (this should be an aside- brandon or lyanna just see them sneaking off to a bedroom and nothing else is described)

Lyanna crowned Queen of love and beauty (she's disgusted by this)

I will… **describe the kidnapping of Lyanna**

I will… **show Ned's reaction to discovering his father and brothers deaths**

I will… **have Ned take charge of the Northern Armies in Lyanna's absence**

When the STAB alliance meets up at Riverrun and Hoster tries to get ned to honor his brother's betrothal and marry Catelyn. He manages to hold off on it with just a betrothal saying he cannot get married without the lady of winterfell, his sister's, permission.

I will… **show snapshots of Lyanna escaping and her journey to meet up with her armies**

I will… **describe a couple of major battles**

Ned has a group in or near Dorne at one point and meets up with Ashara

He finds out he has a three year old daughter, Alysanne, with her and they make love again.

He leaves when he finishes what he was meant to do in Dorne on his journey away he gets word that Lyanna is at Riverrun in command of the Northern Armies. He does not know that he left Ashara with another baby.

I will… **show Lyanna reuniting with her brother and taking command of her army as the new lady of winterfell.**

She commands her brother to marry Catelyn and they do.

She leads her army in several battles before dieing in the final battle. Robert is so sad and enraged he kills rhaegar and everything else unfolds as in canon.

I will… **end with Ned going to Dorne to give Ashara her family's sword and apologize that he wasn't able to keep his promise to marry her.**

Upon arrival he finds out that she went into early labor with his second child and died during the birth. His son was fine as was his daughter.

He decided that with so much of his family dead he couldn't lose anymore. He took custody of Jon and Alysanne Snow.

Pre-Canon Stark Family Prelude (Each number is a different chapter)

Ned arrives at winterfell with his 4 year old daughter and 1 year old son.

He meets Catelyn and his 7 month old true born son, named Robb.

Catelyn learns of the bastards. That night Ned tells her how they came to be and the fate of their mother, she insists they speak no more of this and begs he bury this from the public. Ned agrees because of his guilt and promises to neither confirm nor deny anything with the public.

Northern stories and bastards

The bath houses and siblings

Selecting your direwolf companion

Fighting lessons

Execution Witnesses

Robb meets Vyra at Foresthome

Bran discovers he's a warg at 5; at 7 he's crippled and discovers his greensight.

Robb does his tour at 14 with Jon and Alys

Alys leaves for the Library

Sansa does her tour with Jon and Bran. A lot of shit goes down and understanding/acceptance comes through.


	2. AN Answers

Hello this is just a note to address some comments.

Yes Lyanna is the second born in this story instead of Ned. This isn't a mistake but an intentional change. In order to tell the kind of story I want to tell and make the comparisons I want to make later then everything I changed and even the things I didn't change (like Ned still marrying Catelyn) during Roberts rebellion and the events leading up to it needed to be this way.

Thank you for pointing out the thing about Caster being the first men house in charge of the westerlands and Lannisters coming in after the invasion. That was a mistake and I have gone back and fixed it.

Yes the North still lost to the Dragons. Again I did this intentionally because I wanted a similar landscape to canon for the start of the story. So instead of being at full power, because if they were then would have most likely won against the dragons, the Northern forces were split up and a large part of their forces were in Essos honoring a pact with Bravvos to help them in times of war. That plus the fact that the style of fighting and warmaking being used in the North, which was designed for more individual battles and a smaller scale, had not updated with the times and did not take into account the population growth in the North. After seeing the dragons and fighting one small scale battle, which was more of a 'testing the waters' between the two forces, Torrhen concluded that they could win but at too high a price so he gave up the crown. He sat down and talked Aegon to give up the crown on his conditions and he earned Aegons respect. Due to this, and knowing that a war with the North could turn very costly for him as well, he accepted all the conditions.

If you want an updated outline with more info, especially in the "Stark Family Prelude" part, then comment and I will upload the revised outline. Thanks :)


	3. Northern Culture

With the growth of prosperity power in the north it is only natural for the north's culture to evolve beyond what we saw in canon. This evolution could have easily gone the way it was starting to in Canon, being more and more influenced by Andal culture, but that would being boring and repetitive for my story. Since the north is still a harsh place different from anywhere else in the known world (colder) their culture should evolve differently than anywhere else in the known world.

So, all praise Queen Lyanna Stark, the mother to King Theon who fought off the Andals. She saw the degeneration of first men culture and spent a lot of time and money cultivating and expanding on the unique northern culture. Increasing pride and intilling an order and regulation to their practices. Some of that wasn't all her or done on her watch but she definitely got the ball rolling. This is what became of it by Ned Stark's time.

Religion

The religion of the Gods of the Forest had always been a very informal and relaxed religion. And while that didn't change with the cultural expansion the North had over the years due to the increase of food, resources, and wealth; it did become somewhat fine tuned.

Druids have always been extremely faithful to the old gods who led them to the Children and their knowledge. So over the millennia they have come to be the primary spiritual leaders of the North in the same way as septons are to the faith of the 7.

While the old gods don't have a formal book like the 7 pointed star written by god through his prophet (allegedly), there are many books written by druids detailing worship practices for the Old gods. The first one and considered the Primary book of worship was written by Druid Kyrn. He lived long before the druid invasion and he was somewhat gifted with greensight and a fervent follower of the old gods. It was during prayer on day when he received a vision of the land of always winter. He was sure the gods were telling him to go there so he did.

In those wild and savage lands he found what is thought to be the oldest and largest Weirwood in existence. In his writings he would refer to it as the 'World Tree'. Kyrn lived in the shadow of the World tree for 40 years before his enlightenment. Everyday he spent 6 hours sleeping and 2 hours foraging and eating. The other 16 hours of each and every day for 40 years he spent meditating and praying to the old gods in the World Tree. For his sacrifices and dedication he was given much wisdom from the gods. He had many visions and, according to his writings on the experience and what he learned, he even heard their voices. They told him many of their secrets, things they had not told anyone since the children of the forest long before the first men came to Westeros. He wrote it all down and after 40 years he came back and assembled his masterpiece. ' **The true Gods of the Forest and their Mysteries'** Many of the current beliefs and practices of worship for northmen stem from that book

Children of the Forest are thought to be descendents of the old gods and are revered.

Every baby is thought to be born without a soul. Their bodies are made of their parents flesh but their soul is given by the gods. Similar to baptization It is tradition that when a baby is born they are to be taken to a heart tree with a druid and 'given to the gods' by nestling him or her in the roots of the tree. The parents pray quickly for their child to be made whole and then leave for the rest of the ceremony. The druid then performs their part. They make a puree paste of weirwood sap and leaf and then coat the hands, feet, heart, and head before feeding it to the baby and praying. That usually takes an hour or so. After the druid takes fresh water and cleans the baby from head to toe and gives the baby back to the parents.

Conversely when you die, that is your human body's death not your soul's death. The funeral tradition is to burn one's body before the heart tree in order to release the soul and give it back to the gods. Once given back to the Gods there are many theories about what you experience. Do you see your idea of paradise or is there an official place of residence for souls? It's unknown but what the northmen do know, through the revelations granted to Druid Kyrn, is that the souls are in the trees with the Gods and can still be spoken to individually by their descendents or others who wish to garner advice or knowledge from people in the past.

"Through the gods we can see visions of people we love, people we've lost. Those we think are gone… the trees show us that they're not. We are still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death."- Druid Kyrn (Credit to Avatar the Last Airbender)

So the weirwoods are sacred not only because they are the vessels for the old gods but also because they hold all the souls of all the followers of the olds there ever were or will be. Our ancestors and our descendants not yet born.

The belief and worship of the Gods of the Forest and weirwood trees permeates nearly every facet of life in the north. It is closely woven into the fabric of life's tapestry. From the Druids to medicine to magic to architecture and to sports. It all comes back to the power of the old gods.

Architecture's Meaning

Architecture is a specialty of House Stark and thus has become regarded as having the same level of significance and symbolism as the starks themselves over the years…. Northmen take their buildings seriously

Winterfell is greatly expanded over the years. It is 3 times the size as canon. The main castle sports almost a dozen, large in diameter, circular towers with 3 main circular towers placed equidistant in precise locations geographically.

The 3 towers are considerably taller than the many other towers giving them automatic significance. The placement and purpose of the towers in regard to the rest of the castle hint at the symbolism.

The 3 towers are referred to as the heart of the castle. They stand out enough to be noticed but not enough to affect the overall shape. The measurements of their placement is exact and purposeful. They form a perfect equilateral triangle symbolising the equality of each towers meaning between them. No one tower is more important than the others.

The north facing tower is the King's tower (Lord Stark). It has Stark's personal solar, bedroom, work rooms, hobby rooms, bathing rooms etc. The tower stands facing the North's oldest enemy. It symbolises the Sun, a masculine influence, OR the influence of the leading stark of Winterfell. And as such it symbolises ultimately strength and steadfastness.

The South East facing tower is the Queen's Tower (Lady Stark). It houses the Spouse of the leading Stark of Winter with their Solar, bedroom, work rooms, hobby rooms, bathing rooms, etc. The tower has some of the best views of the eastern landscape and the rising of the Sun and indeed the moon. For the Tower has long symbolised the Moon, a feminine influence and one of balance as well as change.

The South West facing tower is the Druid's tower. It houses The library of WInterfell as well as the personal work room of the High Druid, the bedroom of the High Druid as well as his under-druids (b/c a castle as large and important as Winterfell usually has at least 3 Druids to Advise it), The classrooms for the Stark Children, Medical Rooms, and other various work and experiment rooms. This tower faces the Wolfswood and all that it contains (The Libraoise of the Druids and Foresthome of the Children) This tower symbolises Truth or wisdom, an objective influential guide and pursues all avenues of intelligence for the Starks of Winterfell.

The Sun, the Moon, and the Truth. The three central tenets in the Druids teachings on the Gods of the Forest. It should be noted that the Godswood of Winterfell lies in the exact center of the triangle formed by the three main towers.

Clothing

The style of Clothing in the North is similar to Viking clothing. While the south prefers lighter silks and loose clothing. The North is far more conservative

 **Women:** Women wear several layers of thick clothing for warmth and style. Their sleeves hug their arms unlike the wide inconvenient monstrosities of the south. Noble women wear (for everyday wear) an apron dress consisting of 1 or 2 layers of underdress and a colorful apron for style with two brooches at the shoulders to hold the apron together with 2-3 jewel beads running across the chest between. For special occasions they can mix it up with intricate embroidery and different colors and what not. I don't know, be creative. Small folk have same style but less layers and rough spun cloth and smaller amounts of inexpensive jewelery.

 **Men:** Northern Men wear thick warm trousers that hug their legs, unlike the breeches of the South. Noble men will wear 1-2 layers of thick warm tunics, usually consisting leather and fabric, all held together with a belt for style. The belt is usually designed with metal or embroidered designs, depicting runes for power or luck or sentimental images or what have you (again be creative here). For special occasions the men all also wear two brooches with jeweled beads running across their chest for style and status. (These brooches are often used by noble men and women to affix their outdoor robes to their outfit for traveling or greeting someone outside)

 **The Druids:** Men and women in the Order of Druids follow essentially the same style of clothing appropriate to their genders and station in the north though only in a brown, green, or red color.

All druids, instead of chains marking them as druids, wear a head chain where 2 simple thin metal strands wrap around the sides of the head like a crown with one strand running down the middle of the head and connecting all three at the forehead with a gem known as lapis lazuli. Which in the old tongue mean 'truth and wisdom'. The gem stone is thought to have magical properties that increases wisdom and even grants the wearer minor divining abilities (allegedly).

Both men and women druids will always wear a work belt over their tunic or dress. The belt is tied in a gordian knot in the front and has several pouches with supplies for healing and multi purpose tools, and writing materials, ect. Depending on what they will be doing.

Dancing & Music

Music is revered in the North. Not just as hymns or bawdy tavern songs. Music is thought to be a sacred form of expression. It is linked to spirituality because most music is based on the sounds of nature which is the most common way for the old gods to communicate. Plus the Children, who are revered as descendent of the gods and the most closely related to them, use singing as a form of magic for more powerful than what humans can weild.

Music is commonly used by the druids to teach the smallfolk about history and religion as well as to celebrate/bless nearly everything it is possible to celebrate/bless. With specific ceremonial songs for weddings, funerals, births, war, ascendence of nobility/royalty, Winter, Harvest, ect.

Dancing is thought of as an extension of Music. It is a music of the body, music given life. The style of Northern dances is what we call Step Dancing (Similar to Irish Riverdancing) They are almost always all couple or group dances.

Given great importance in the culture. It is considered a mixture of Math (Geometry), Art, Sport, and music

Many group dances are spiritual in nature. Dances that symbolize the gods power and are meant to act like runes of power. These dances must be precise, one foot or movement out of place and it loses all effect. These dances are crafted like an equation and use alchemic circles to invoke magic.

Even the dances that are just for fun among nobility or small folk are meant to be precise and powerful. The dancer must be strong and firm to make the powerful sound as music but also flexible and swift to make the fast pace time of the steps and the artful movements

There are dance competitions throughout the North among nobility and sometimes smallfolk in the cities

Status Symbols

Bead Chains are a common style in the North but it is also a way to show status. Smallfolk commonly can only afford 1 bead chain, 2 bead chains for minor nobility and 3 bead chains if you're a stark or a druid.

The size and quality of broaches also show who is who. Peasants wore small plain metal brooches (purely functional) while minor nobility wore larger brooches of bronze that had more detail (usually the symbol of their house), and the Starks wore Silver brooches with direwolves. Druids wore bronze brooches with the symbol of the druids etched on, an open book with a weirwood sprouting from it.

Festival(s) & Sports

Tournaments have never been popular in the North- When Northmen fight in combat they do so in battle and they do it to kill an enemy. It is considered distasteful do it to your fellow northman, especially in times of peace. Of course they are still fist fights and informal duels between people who are upset with one another but that's human nature.

Instead of tourneys in the North they have several options for fun pastimes and competition with sports. (The South probs had more too but i'm trying to expand the north here give me a break)

 **Sports:** Besides hunting, which is popular among nobility though highly restricted and regulated, there is archery, shinty (ancestor of hockey and can be played in summer on fields), curling (only a winter sport), group dance, and wrestling. Both nobility and peasants played these things but archery and shinty were more used by nobility because they could afford to do it more.

 **Competitions:** Formal competitions in these sports are uncommon due to the size of the North but the most well known and celebrated one is the **'** Damhsa na déithe' held every year except in winter in the Barrowlands.

Built in the time of Queen Alysanne, and funded by the the Dustins, there is a monument to the old gods in the Barrow Fields. Large stone obelisks drilled into the ground in a spiral formation stretching ten miles from the center. The center of the spiral is 100 ft. in diameter circle in which stones were drilled into the ground equidistant from each other with a stone slab on top of every two stones creating a clear circle shape from the sky (think stonehenge in its prime but bigger). The stone columns and obelisks are 60 ft high. In the 34 door way spaces created by the stones lay a weirwood in every space except the entrance. With Runes of power carved into every stone and the large heart tree in the exact center it is thought to be the most spiritual place for followers of the old gods outside of Isle of Faces. It took over ten years to complete and copius amounts of magic and money. It was named 'Trúarhringur **'**

It wasn't until a few reigns after Alysanne that Dance competitions came to be as popular as canon time. All other sports mentioned above were more like games and only nobles really competed amongst each other, usually only two houses deciding to compete, for small prizes decided beforehand by the two houses.

Until one day the Dustins thought of having an actual formalized competition, not just between nobility but all people of the North. He approached the Starks for permission and help with funding and they came up the Damsha na deithe.

Only two categories to enlist: there were the group dances and the couple dances. It did not matter the class of the team or couple what matters was the dance and if it was beautiful and grand enough to honor the gods.

The Winner of the group dances were given a large purse of coin to be divided among them and gifts of either clothes or weapons or whatever they needed to each member of the winning team. The couple dance was given a slightly smaller purse of coin but a bigger prizes, usually the prize for them is a new house built by the ruling lord wherever they want to live or marriage requests granted if they are a noble couple. The winners of each category were to be decided by vote from the three highest voices in the north; the Stark of Winterfell, the High Druid, and the High Greenseer of the Children.

Once the competition was approved and druids went out to inform the people of the north; more construction was made in Truarhringur to account for a large scale competition

Two smaller rings of stone were constructed within the clearing. They started at one side of the heart tree and wrapped around to end on the other side of the tree. This left a 50 ft in diameter circle on the middle for Dancers to perform in front of the gods as well as the spectators who would be seated in wooden theater seating constructed in the 30 doorway spaces between the stone. Unlike the outer ring the two inner rings have shorter columns, only 30 ft. but are larger in width so each ring has 15 spaces between for seating to be constructed and deconstructed for the competition each year.

There are 3 major festivals in the North. Two of which only occur at the changing of the seasons.

 **The Dance of the Gods** ('Damhsa na déithe'): Explained above it is a dance competition held every year for the north and it usually takes about a week to watch all the people that enlist. Once it started many in the north come just to watch and party between dance performances and so feasts were served as well and the musicians who played for the dances played for the partying each night and so on. It became not just a competition but one of the most beloved festivals in the north as well.

 **The Harvest Festival** : Slightly different from canon but same idea. A festival held for two weeks just before winter. When all the farms of the north had completed their last harvest before winter and before the lords began the process of shutting down areas of production and relocating the people to hunker down for the winter; all the major and minor noble families (and many smallfolk too) were to gather at Winterfell to honor the passing of the seasons and pay the last of their taxes before winter would prevent them. The festival always started off boisterous with feasts and dances as well as dance performances by previous winners of the Damsha. And meetings between the lords and the Starks. Then it would slowly wind down until the last few days of the festival were solemn days of reflection and prayer with many hours spent in the godswood of Winterfell or wintercity. This Harvest feast quickly became another tradition in the North. It was seen as a very fun way of getting business done and a cathartic way of helping the people ease out of the relative comfort and safety of summer and ready themselves for the harshness of winter.

 **Spring Festival:** Same as the harvest festival but instead of winding down the festivities to solemn prayer it ramps up as the festival goes on from solemn prayer and serious meetings to celebrations and dances. At the end of the festival the process of moving people back to their homes after winter starts.

The Order of the Druid

The are two kinds of members of the order.

 **Druids:** To become a druid you have to master at least 8 disciplines with 5 required degrees in healing, alchemy (which was just regular science with some branches that utilize magic in application), History, Economics, and Spiritual Studies.

 **Seffids** : To become a seffid you have to master at least 4 disciplines with 2 required degrees in healing and alchemy.

Druids take an oath to release all titles and inheritance and forgo marriage and children. But Seffids are not required to take an oath. As such many attend the libraoise to become seffids so they can go back to their village a learned person to be a healer and advise their village in times of crisis (like a castle druid but for the small folk) while still having the ability to marry and grow a family within their village. On the other hand seffids are not considered spiritual leaders like druids are. Some people become seffids when they're young so they can travel with druids and learn but still have a family, fully intending to become a full fledged druid later on when they're older.

There are many facets to being a part of the order and many ways to be a druid.

There are the druids who are stationed in every castle and keep of the North (including the wall). The High Druid, who is the elected leader of the Order (only retaining the position if the High greenseer of the Children approves), is always stationed at winterfell.

There are libraoise druids who stay at druid headquarters learning and/or teaching their whole careers.

Wandering druids who travel not just the north but the entire known world in search of knowledge to add to the Order's Collection. And seeking to spread knowledge to all.

Research Druids who are the people that experiment in their chosen fields to discover or invent new ways of doing things.

Most druids learn some magic because in the North magic is considered just another form of science.

Northern magic is different from all types of magic in the known world. It is thought to be a gift from the old gods and unlike other types of magic it draws power from the ice and snow and cold of the Land of Always Winter.

While all other magic (Essos) is based on fire from the eternal fire of the magma flowing under the land in essos, the sea around the south and even southern parts of Westeros. This current of fire and the magical properties therein was discovered and vastly cultivated by the valyrians but a lot of that knowledge was lost in the Doom. There is still a great deal of it floating around essos and in the backrooms of the Citadel but most of the theory and knowledge of the source of that magical power was lost in the Doom. It's theorized that the doom was a result of the overcultivation of that power which is why there has been a great wane in the power of magic in the South and Essos.

On the other hand Northern magic draws on ice, a more sturdy and steady element, and is more consistent if slightly less powerful than fire based magic. As such it was not overly affected by the Doom and still remains a present and powerful tool in the North. Though due to balances in the universes that can only be theorized, it is still slightly less powerful than it was before the doom.

So basically magic is a useful tool in the North, with wargs and greenseers held in high regard, but it's not the go to answer for everything.

Maesters know little of magic being used in their North, or the prevailing and accredited theories pertaining to origins of all forms of magic, because they hate the North after they were shunned during the andal invasions.

There is a lot of enmity between maesters and druids and little to no knowledge sharing. Basically druids learn ravenry from the citadel in order to use ravens to communicate with the south (Hawks are the communication of choice in the North)- and the Citadel are given updates on the surveys and census of the north, it's people, it's properties, and transactions. And that's it. No love lost between the two.

 **A/N** I know I haven't done much with this story since i first posted the outline but i haven't been sleeping on it. One of my biggest pet peeves when I read AU North stories is the lack of development of the culture, particularly when it comes to the religion of the old gods. People usually focus just on military and martial development and borrow other cultural stuff from the south or andal culture and just call it a northern version. I spent a lot of time on this so please review and if anyone wants to borrow any of it for their own stories you are welcome to.

As for the actual story one of things that stopped me from writing it is that I suck at writing characters I don't know very well and OC's are big weakpoint which is why I haven't been able to keep inspiration going for writing the history of the AU North. So I think I'm just gonna start from the Stark Family Prelude story with Ned Stark and the kids. The only changes in the Outline is that I'm switching back Lyanna's age so that her whole story will be the same as canon. I had a different story in mind that had her being older than Ned so that her new story could parallel what I have planned for Sansa but all the reviews hated it so nevermind. I'll also explain in flachback why I had the North give up the Crown to the Targaryens. It has to do with Torrhen being convinced by the High Druid and Greenseer based on visions they both had about the different future paths available to Torrhen at the time.


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